Fisheries inspection standard in the pipeline
Fisheries inspection standard in the pipeline
The livestock and fisheries sector is drafting a quality control standard to ensure that fish products imported into Laos are safe for use.
As no standard for fish product management or certificates for fish farms currently exist, especially in regard to fishing equipment and feed, the number of fish in the nation's rivers has decreased.
Laos is now a member of the World Trade Organisation and will integrate into the Asean Economic Community in 2015, so the Livestock and Fisheries Department of the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry is setting up a fisheries inspection section for import and export management of fisheries products.
The duties of the section will be to inspect fishing equipment, the quality of fish feed, fingerlings, and fresh seafood, the Director of the Fisheries Division, Mr Sommano Phounsavath, told Vientiane Times recently.
The aim is to increase the river fish population for local community food security and commercial sale through appropriate fish breeding methods.
The department currently has a fisheries inspection section in Vientiane and plans to expand it to every province around the country if a decree on fisheries inspection is approved by the government this year.
“For many years the department has only had veterinarians at border crossings to check imported fisheries products,” Mr Sommano said.
To manage imports and exports more effectively, the department needs to build the technical capacity of fisheries staff so they can inspect imported livestock products, because livestock and aquatic diseases may be quite different and therefore difficult to identify, he explained.
Some fish and seafood products imported from neighbouring countries may contain unsafe chemicals but they are still passing through border crossings.
It is expected that with the new standard in place, the export quality of fisheries products from Laos will match international criteria.
The section will also seek to formulate rules to manage fisheries and c atch regulations in rivers.
The government approved the Law on Fisheries in 2009, but around the country some people still use inappropriate fishing techniques because of inadequate inspection and management, said Mr Sommano.
He called for closer cooperation by the relevant sectors to reduce the impact on fish species and business in the future.
The majority of fish feed is imported from neighbouring countries as investment in produ ction hasn't been forthcoming from national and international companies.
vientiane times
